Risk Assessment Tools for Use During Fabrication of Offshore Structures and in Marine Operations Projects

Abstract

The trend towards most offshore field developments occurring in deep waters has increased the dependency on marine operations in the offshore industry. The installation of sub sea templates as well as offshore floating units year round is profitable from a net present value point of view, but the risks involved to the owners are increasing when working off-season in bad weather. This calls for analysis of the risk and identification of efficient risk-reducing measures. In this paper, the effect of setting proper weather criteria for marine operations and reducing the uncertainty in the weather forecast is highlighted. During the latest years, severe losses have been reported as caused by failures during marine operations. The need for risk analysis of marine operations is therefore underlined. This calls for an overview of the tools available to analyze risks during marine operations. In this paper, some different assessment tools are reviewed, and recommendations are given as to the appropriateness of using these tools. Both qualitative and quantitative tools are discussed with a general recommendation of employing the more sophisticated tools when the consequences are large. Qualitative analysis should normally be carried out before any quantitative analysis.